Synergy Technical: Deriving Value from Cloud- Microsoft Symbiosis

Rohana Meade, President & CEO Rohana Meade, President and CEO, Synergy Technical elucidates about enterprises moving from the ‘why cloud’ phase to the ‘why not cloud’ one. Interestingly, participants of this shift include firms from highly regulated industries like law firms, banks, pharmaceutical companies and private equity firms. “There is a belief that regulated firms are hesitant about moving to cloud technologies. In reality, the cloud is more beneficial for them as service providers like Microsoft are making the investments in security compliance, collaboration and flexibility on the cloud that are not available on-premise,” says Rohana. All the tool sets and application within the Microsoft ecosystem be it Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint Online— have matured and become competitive if not better than the on-premise equipment. As an industry-leading Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform Partner, as well as a certified Cloud Deployment partner, Synergy Technical is catalyzing the shift to the cloud by working with organizations to help understand and migrate to cloud—particularly Microsoft offerings. “Our goal is to ensure that our clients have a great cloud experience, which is why we have partnered with Microsoft to implement their cloud-based services and infrastructure solutions.”

As a former CIO, Rohana engages Synergy’s engineering team to educate clients on the various benefits of cloud technology. The energetic team, with its profound knowledge and expertise in the regulated industries, assists clients from developing a migration plan to helping create applications that run in cloud environments.

Embarking on the Journey to Cloud

As a full stack provider of Microsoft’s offerings, Synergy’s portfolio comprises of Microsoft Office 365, Enterprise Mobility and Azure solutions. “From idea conception and strategy formulation through configuration, testing and delivery our singular focus is to realize the client’s vision for the final solution,” states Rohana.

As the first step towards cloud adoption, the company carries out assessments to determine the suitable strategy for migrating to cloud. Cloud Assessment Services also help identify the applications and workloads best suited for cloud deployment. Then comes the optimization process that begins with a starting point, ‘where the IT infrastructure and platform is today,’ and ends with a destination, ‘where the client wants it to be.’ Optimization focuses on aligning the utilization of an organization’s IT people, process, and technology to advance the business towards its desired destination. “As the migration process is different in each case, we have developed a proprietary time-tested method to execute the same in a manner that ensures maximum ROI for clients,” emphasizes Rohana.

From idea conception and strategy
formulation through development,
testing, and delivery our singular
focus is to realize the client’s vision
for the final solution

Once the roadmap is created, Synergy implements Microsoft’s cloud-based services and solutions. “We have migrated hundreds of thousands of users to Office 365 from large to small organizations as it allows employees to work together easily with anywhere access to email, web conferencing, documents, and calendars.” Clients from highly regulated industry need not worry about security as Office 365 enables them to keep data secure and protected both in transit and at rest. Synergy has also taken cognizance of the demand for the secure hosting of applications, which is testified by its expertise in Microsoft. Rohana also points out instances of corporate acquisitions or divestitures, when clients are required to migrate their data to the cloud within a short period, and Synergy helps in preparing migration plans and deploying the cloud applications quickly and efficiently.

Alongside Office 365, the company has worked with numerous clients to design and implement custom Azure based solutions that span the robust features that Windows Azure offers.

“Whether the customer’s solution is still on the drawing board, has been running for years or has to integrate with internal services, we can help design and implement a solution that meets their needs,” elucidates Rohana. To provide secure access to each of the applications hosted on the cloud, Synergy leverages the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS), which delivers enterprise-grade security and access management; this also enables enterprise mobility. “End document protection is crucial for businesses like law firms, where lawyers would want to use their files through laptops or mobile devices; EMS helps alleviate security concerns while allowing anywhere access.”

Case in Point

Rohana drives her company with more than two decades of leadership experience in the IT field. “Our deep experience allows us to think from an IT organization perspective that makes sense for our clients,” remarks Rohana. Synergy Technical has played a remarkable role in helping numerous companies as well as nonprofit organizations in their cloud migration journey. One such example is of Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization that provides free surgeries to correct facial deformities for thousands of children every year, required to remove technological barriers and streamline collaboration between facilities, volunteers, and patients. Synergy Technical assisted the nonprofit in adopting Office 365 and shifting to the cloud more quickly than it could have on its own. The consultants at Synergy Technical helped Operation Smile resolve some technical issues, which made for a smoother implementation. Following the implementation, Operation Smile has migrated paper medical records and images to a standardized electronic medical records system and transformed its global communications capabilities.

Following a ‘start-up culture,’ Rohana emphasizes: “I always want our staff to feel that they are a part of a revolution and not sit back complacent.” This way the company ensures that they stay abreast of the changes in the cloud ecosystem to implement it for customers proactively. Rohana also goes on to say that most IT organizations around have too many things on their plate, so Synergy’s focus is on taking some of that noise off. “We are actively growing our managed services and developing our security practice for customers to protect them from ransomware and data hacks—a huge focus for us currently,” she concludes.